The Zimbabwe Humanitarian and Development Assistance Framework was launched in Harare in January as a mechanism through which assistance given to the country could be distributed to the people in a transparent and non-partisan manner.

"The hand-over of the Zimbabwe Humanitarian and Development Assistance Framework means that all future distribution of the assistance given to Zimbabwe will be carried out by the Government of Zimbabwe in close collaboration with key stakeholders in the country," SADC said in a statement issued Tuesday.

SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salomao said the programme was being handed over to the Harare authorities since the country now had a functional government formed in February.

He said that he was confident that Harare's coalition government had the necessary capacity to continue with the programme which had a unique, yet effective approach to the distribution of assistance given to the country.

SADC's top civil servant said the hand-over of the programme should not be interpreted as closure of the programme, noting that Zimbabwe still needed assistance in agriculture, health and water supply.

He called on SADC member states and the international community to continue assisting Zimbabwe to stabilize all sectors of the economy.

He thanked the South African government of South Africa for providing 300 million rand (US$40 million) which was used for the supply of agricultural inputs to Zimbabwe in the past 12 months.

The Zimbabwe Humanitarian and Development Assistance Framework delivered significant quantities of seed and fertiliser to small-scale farmers in Zimbabwe during the 2008/09 summer season and the 2009 winter season.

This significantly contributed to an improvement in food production during the past year.

-APA